Ripple Effect
by MidnightShadow0110
Summary: The past is set in stone. Or is it? When Sakura is given the chance to change the hell that the future has become she takes it. Some say that fate decides how things play out in life but was Sakura being sent to the past apart of fates design? One action causes a chain reaction and thus the ripple effect is born. "Is the future truly that bad?" "Not if I can help it."
1. Time

**Another new story? Ne?**

**I know yall hate me but look I've been updating faster, I'm trying to focus on one story at a time and update a few chapters then move to another and try a cycle. So please please don't hate me for writing a new story! you guys should know by now that once I get an idea and write it I'm gonna post it regardless of my updates...**

**I love all of you that have stayed wit me through my very slow updating process and still read and review on my stories!**

**I really hope you guys like this new one I came up with.**

**I was watching the naruto episode with Kakashi's flash back and the episodes of Kushina and Minato and I was like well damn hes like Naruto only hotter and and more mature! so I look on fanfic to see if anyone had written any good stories of Minato and Sakura (Cause yall know Sakura's a bad as bitch and we all love her!) But I found there really aren't that many stories! and after I read a few good ones I got inspired and was like hell I wanna write one! so heres what I came up with! I really hope you guys like it! **

**So here it is the first chapter to Ripple Effect.**

* * *

A gasp echoed throughout the demolished area as Sakura was slammed into a tree, she could feel the bark stabbing into her skin as the tree broke and splintered from the impact. She tried to move away but the figure in front of her prevented her from doing so. "Now, now my cherry blossom I don't like having to hurt you, just be obedient." the figure in front of her said, he was a tall man and with short spiked raven hair, he had long since taken off the orange swirling mask that covered his sharingan eyes. "Go to hell Madara!" Sakura yelled spitting in his face, anger and spite in her eyes as she stared him down. Madara growled at the woman in front of him but recovered quickly before an evil smirk appeared on his face. "Only if you will be there waiting for me." He said in a sickly sweet voice that was almost drown out by the piercing screams from behind him.

It was happening, what they had all feared for years, Madara and Sasuke Uchiha were taking out Konoha. The attack was expected but what they weren't expecting was an army behind the two Uchiha's. The sear number of the shinobi instated fear in the village and as the attack continued to rage on it seemed that their fears were realized. Sakura had been moving from one place to another healing all those who still had a chance, but no matter how many she healed there always seemed to be more and more bodies dropping to the ground. Now she was standing in front of a psychotic man with little to no chakra left in her. She was brought back from her thoughts when she heard Naruto cry out from a small distance away, he was currently fighting Sasuke and Madara had been preventing Sakura from getting to either of them. The two boys were both exhausted, but determination filled their eyes. One with the hope to save his best friends and village, and the other with nothing but revenge and hate.

The two boys stood there facing each other off before they started the hand signs for two very familiar jutsu's, blue lightning enveloped Sasuke's hand as the sound of birds could be heard, while wind gusted around Naruto before circulating into a ball in his hand.

Sakura's eyes widened at the realization at what was going to happen, this was the final blow and from the looks of it neither of them were going to come out alive. "No!" She screamed trying to run toward the two as they let their jutsu's power up. "Now don't be hasty blossom I can't have you going out their and dying. What use would you be to me then? I need you for when I recreate the world!" Madara said holding the poor girl against the tree, his arm digging into a deep wound on her abdomen. She was bleeding everywhere from many different wounds, some from small cuts and others that would become fatal soon. The two boys a few yards away began to charge at each other ready to inflict the final blow. Sakura thought quickly pushing the right amount of chakra into her knee before driving it up into Madara's stomach. The force was just enough to make him loosen his grip on her enough so that she could escape his grasp. And once she was free she ran, with all her might she ran pushing what ever chakra she had left into the soles of her feet so that she could increase her speed. The moment felt very nostalgic, Sakura running toward her two male team mates as they ran toward each other ready to kill. But the first time this happened Kakashi had been there to save her before she was hit by the two boys attacks, this time Kakashi was no where in sight. She knew that charging at the two and jumping in between them would do nothing but get herself killed, but what did she have left to live for. Kakashi was dead, Tsunade was dead, Ino, Hinata and most likely the rest of her friends were dead as well. Her parents had long since dead years ago, and the only two people she had left in the world were ready to kill each other right here and now.

So what reason did she have to not throw herself in between the attack to try and stop her brothers from killing each other? To live as a psychopaths person medic? Hell no! She was Sakura Haruno, apprentice of the fifth Hokage, top medic in the five great shinobi nations, she had had a full 20 years of life filled with happiness, sadness and pain... oh yes so much pain. She was ready for her time to end, so why not go out with a bang?

She was almost to the two boys as they got closer and closer to each other. Then within a split second she was in between them. Both boys had realized her presence too late as she predicted, Naruto's eyes were filled with surprise and pain knowing what was about to happen. While Sasuke's were blank but Sakura could have sworn she saw sadness briefly pass through his onyx orbs. She closed her eyes as the Chidori and Rasengan came closer, a warm smile spread across her lips "I'll see you two on the other side..." She whispered right as the two attacks hit her on either side.

A bone chilling scream erupted from her lips, she felt like her body was being ripped in half as her world started to fade to nothing but pure white abyss.

* * *

A soft gasp on a young girl echoed in Sakura's ears, but all she could see was white.

"Obito, Kakashi go tell the Hokage!" A deep masculine voice reverberated in her ear.

She could hear foot steps fading away before she felt the sensation of floating.

* * *

Bright jade colored eyes began to flutter open before closing again to shield themselves for the bright florescent lights above. Sakura moaned out in pain as she felt the weight of her wounds hit her nerves, "This can't be heaven... It hurts to damn much to be heaven..." She whispered out as she tried again to open her eyes, letting them adjust to the bright lights this time. "Sensei I think shes waking up." A light feminine voice said echoing against the walls of the small room she was in. Sakura looked around, her vision was a bit blurry still but she could make out the all white walls, the secant of bleach and sterilization filled her nose. She turned to the side to see a tall lean man leaning against one of the white walls, "Naruto...?" She whispered but even as the words left her mouth she knew it wasn't her brother that was leaning against the wall, this man seemed to be a bit older and his hair was a little longer than Naruto's

Her eyes wondered the rest of the room as the blurriness was gone completely, there were three kids at the foot of the bed she was in, all about 12 or 13 years old. The first was a tall boy for his age, he had spiky deep brown hair and onyx eyes, the one next to him was a petite girl with short brown hair with rectangular marks on her cheeks. But when her eyes landed on the last child in the room she felt her heart stop, before it started to painfully pound against her chest. There standing in front of her was her sensei... _'Kakashi! But how is that possible he died...! Right before my eyes I felt his heart stop after I tried to save him... So how is he here! and why is he 13!'_ Sakura's head was in a rage of thoughts, she quickly sat up from her spot in the bed to see if maybe her eyes were tricking her her. "You shouldn't sit up so quickly your still injured!" A somewhat panicked deep voice echoed next to her but she paid no mind to it. Her body was telling her to lay back down and not move but she had to see if what she saw was really her sensei.

She stared straight at the silver hair boy and blinked many times to see if he would maybe dissapear but he stayed in place staring at her like she was crazy, it was really him... it was really Kakashi! She felt like her heart was going a mile a minute and she felt panic fill her body, nothing seemed to be making sense to her. Her supposed dead sensei was standing right in front of her in a 13 year old body. "What the fuck!" She creamed out pointing to the sliver haired boy, she couldn't stop the words from leaving her mouth, "What the fuck!" She screamed out again, everyone in the room seemed to freeze not knowing what to do. Sakura stared frantically for a few more minutes before an idea struck in her mind. _'Your fucking hysterical Madara!'_ she thought sarcastically, mentally hitting herself for not thinking of it earlier. "I don't know what your playing at but you better cut the shit and end this genjutsu you damn Uchiha!" Sakura screamed at no one in particular. She put her hands up before yelling out "Kai" to try and end the genjutsu that she thought she was under.

"You not under any genjutsu miss." A voice said next to her, Sakura turned to see the blonde haired man that looked so much like Naruto before realization hit her, she really wasn't in any kind of genjutsu. She looked at the four people in the room before the door to her room burst open and a petite brunette haired nurse came rushing in. she started talking to the blonde giving Sakura time to think. If she wasn't under any kind of genjutsu then what the hell was going on? Kakashi was alive and 13 years old for crying out loud that wasn't normal! Then it hit her like a tone of bricks, when she was hit by Sasuke and Naruto's attack she never felt her heart stop, all she could remember was a pulling sensation from her naval.

She quickly turned to the Tall blond and the nurse, "What is the date?" She said seeming very random to everyone in the room. She sat there for a few moments impatiently waiting for an answer, "Umm its May 26th..." The small brown haired girl said looking a bit shy as she looked at the ground and not at Sakura. "No that the year! What is the year?" She said getting a little irritated with how responsive these people were. "1902" the blonde man said pulling her attention back to him.

"Shit." she whispered realizing that her thought had been true, without waiting to hear what anyone else had to say she began ripping the IV's out of her arms along with all the other wires she was hooked up to. "Miss please don't do that you'll hurt yourself!" The nurse cried out in a panic not knowing what to do. Sakura figured she was new and she felt a little bad for giving her hell but this was a serious matter at hand. "I need to speak with the Hokage." she said not looking at anyone as she finished pulling out the last wire out, her antics were stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Your still injured. you need to rest." It was the blonde haired Naruto look a like, his voice was very gentle yet held concern even after she had gone completely crazy two minutes ago. She sat there entranced for a moment about how much this man looked like her brother, but she soon recovered before lightly shrugging his hand away. She brought her hand up to her chest before it lit up with chakra with a light green hue to it. Everyone in the room gasped as she pored the chakra into her body letting it heal her wounds.

_'So shes a medical ninja?'_ The blonde thought as he watched the woman in front of him heal her wounds at a rate that was much faster than the medics that worked at the hospital. Once she was done she flipped her legs over the edge of the bed before she stood up and started to walk toward the door, "Miss wait you haven't been discharged yet." The brunette nurse said in one last attempt to get the situation under control, but Sakura was in no mood to comply she had to get to the bottom of this. She walked down the halls with purpose before she felt another presence coming up behind her then start walking next to her.

She looked to her right to find the blonde that had been in her room earlier, "What are you doing?" she asked staring up at him with confusion, he had a bright smile on his face as he walked next to her. "I'm escorting you to the Hokage's office." he said like it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't need an escort I know where it is." Sakura said quickening her pace a little to see if he would fall behind. "The Hokage put me in charge of watching over you." The blonde said this time not looking at her as he matched her pace. Getting a little irritated Sakura speed up a little more but the blonde still matched her pace evenly. The blonde watched as Sakura kept increasing her speed, she had been stripped of her red tank top and tan med skirt because they were so bloody and torn. Leaving her in a black tub top across her chest that had one strap over that shoulder, her stomach was covered by fish netting, and she wore a pear of spandex black shorts. All in all she was quite the sight to see, long pink exotic hair that reached her mid calf, bright jade eyes that were framed by long thick black lashes. She was quite short and only reached his shoulder but she was very curvy, her chest was a bit abnormally large and her skin was creamy and pale. She was quite the exotic beauty and the blonde enjoyed the view as the rosette continued to speed up.

This continued until Sakura was in a full out sprint to the the Hokages office but to her dismay the blonde easily kept up with her, he turned to her giving her a cheeky smile. _'That bastards mocking me!' _She thought irritated as she tried to increase her speed even more. They arrived at the Hokages office within minutes, Sakura stood there panting with her hands on her knees but the blonde male just stood there next to her completely unfazed. "What...The... Hell..." She said between gasps looking at him as he smiled down at her. "Tired?" He questioned cheekily Sakura was half tempted to punch him but decided against it. "Shut up." She hissed out as she composed herself.

The blonde knocked on the large double doors that lead to the Hokage's office, a soft 'come in' was heard from the other side as the blonde opened the door. Sakura's eyes widened, there sitting in the Hokage's chair was none other than Sarutobi, although he was younger than she remembered him being. A warm smile graced her face at seeing the face of her late beloved Hokage. "Ah Minato nice to see you." Sarutobi said smiling at the blonde as he gestured for the two to come inside and sit down. Once they were both sitting the Hokage spoke, "So you must be the woman Minato and his Genin team found in the woods." Sarutobi said a smile still on his face as Sakura nodded, "Yes Hokage-sama." Sakura said bowing her head a little to show respect. "What is your name?" Sarutobi asked looking into her eyes for the answer, "Sakura Haruno." Sakura responded momentarily sad that he didn't know who she was, but how could he?

"I found it quite strange to hear that you had a Konoha headband yet we have no record of you." Sarutobi said his smile wavering a little as he looked to the girl with questioning eyes. Sakura took a deep breath she didn't know how she was going to break this information to the Hokage or even if he would believe her but she had to try. "There is a reason for that sir." Sakura said slowly choosing her words carefully, Sarutobi nodded for her to continue. "I technically haven't been born yet in this time." Sakura said taking a deep breath looking at the two in the room to see what their reaction would be but all they did was stare at her blankly.

Sakura sighed knowing that she would have to elaborate. "Let me explain. I'm not from this time, I'm from the future. I know it sounds crazy, I still can't believe it myself but how else can I explain my sensei being 13 years old!" She said trying to find a point that would prove she wasn't crazy, she really wasn't in the mood to be sent to the nut house. There was a long period of silence and Sakura couldn't tell what was going through their minds as they sat and stared at her. She sat there quietly letting the information sink in. "Will you please explain what happened to you Sakura." Sarutobi said breaking the silence.

"You can't seriously believe her old man!" Minato said looking at the Hokage like he was crazy, he just couldn't believe this girls story, time travel was impossible everyone knew that. "Calm down Minato. Believe it or not there have been instances before where shinobi have traveled through time. Of course it is very rare, I can only think of one other occurrence but that was far before my time so most people have never heard of it." Sarutobi said trying to calm the blonde with his words as he looked toward the rosette who had a look of disbelieve on her face. She had had a hard enough time believing her theory herself and it seemed almost impossible for anyone else to. But she was thankful that Sarutobi had heard of another instance of this happening and believed her. "I do not wish to give too much of the future away but it happened in the middle of my two team mates fight. They were charging at each other with Chidori and Rasengan, and I ran between the two of them and got caught in the cross fire of the two jutsu's. At first I thought my body was being ripped in half but then I felt this pulling sensation in my stomach, the next thing I know I'm waking up in Konoha hospital with my former sensei at the foot of my bed in a 13 year old body." She said explaining the shortened version of what had happened that day, she couldn't tell them what was going to happen, that there was going to be an all out blood bath with Konoha at its center.

Although who was she to know the rules of time travel? Sakura's thoughts were wondering as silence over took the room once again. After a few minutes she decided that it would be best not to reveal to many events that will happen in the future. "It seems that when the two jutsu's collided a rift was made that sent you back in time." Sarutobi said mussing to himself as he scratched his chin in thought. Sakura looked up at the old man, it made sense... Well as much sense as time travel could make and she was fine with going with that answer.

"So is there any way to send her back to her time?" Minato said in a serious tone speaking for the first time in a while. Sakura nodded wanting to know that same thing, although she didn't know if she wanted to be sent back to her time... Her time was like hell on earth.

"I'm afraid not, like I said before these are rare occurrences but in the times that is has happened no one has found a way to send that person back to their own time." Sarutobi said a distant look on his face as he looked out the large window in his office, "I'm sorry to say you are stuck in this time miss Haruno." The old man finished his thoughts as he looked at the two in front of him, but something confused him. The way Sakura reacted to his statement was far from what he expected, she didn't seem sad or disappointing, in fact she seemed... relieved. But he decided not to press her on that fact and instead tried to think of the next action to take in this situation. "How would you like to proceed with this situation miss Haruno?" The Hokage asked looking the girl in the eyes.

This question caught Sakura off guard, what did she want to do? _'I can't go back to my time... that much is obvious. Not that it is too much of a loss who would want to live such a terrible word plagued with so much death and destruction...' _The rosette thought she really needed to contemplate this, she was in the past back before she was even born, it was around the time of the third shinobi war. Kakashi as a child, Sarutobi was still alive and the Uchiha clan was still thriving...

_'Of course! this is a time where while we are still at war the true build up to the destruction of Konoha hasn't begun yet. Itachi hasn't been forced to kill the Uchiha clan, which means Madara hasn't gotten his claws into the Uchiha's minds yet!'_ Sakura thought her mind was racing with all this information. She had found out maybe a year before Madara attack the village that he was the reason for the Uchiha's rebellion against Konoha. Which inevitable lead up to Itachi having to kill his clan to keep the village safe, which lead to Sasuke's feelings of hate which then lead to his chain of revenge. Which went from his brother to the village that had forced his brother to kill his family. Which all lead up to Madara tricking Sasuke into join force's with him, doubling his strength to build the army they needed to take down Konoha and the rest of the five great nations! Everything seemed to just build up, it was like a ripple in water. One disturbance caused the many ripples after it!

Sakura's mind was zooming and if she hadn't already been sitting she would have fallen from how dizzy her head was. At that moment she knew what she wanted to do, "Hokage-sama, the future that I came from is very bleak, I can not tell you the events that are to come but I can tell you that they are less than ideal for this village." Sakura started looking at the Hokage as the look on his face changed to one of worry. "What I want to do is continue to serves to my village as Medical ninja but I would also like to try and change the events that lead up to the hell the future becomes." Sakura said looking at the Hokage for permission, of course she could subtly help change events to alter the future but she wanted the Hokage's approval.

"Sakura if the future is as bad as you say it is then I would be happy to approve your want to change the future events that are going to happen. But I will tell you that tampering with the past to change the future is very risky, it is impossible to determine what will be the outcome." Sarutobi said looking at the young woman it was quite the burden to put on such a young girl and yet she wanted to willing take it. Sakura nodded understanding that this was risky but honestly she couldn't think of anything that was worse that the future she had come from. "Then I approve of your request but I will advise you to tread lightly with this Sakura." The Hokage said Sakura nodded once again if there was any chance at a different future then she was happy to take it. "As for your serves the the village, what was your rank before coming here?" the hokage asked the smile present on his face once again as he looked at her.

"I had recently advanced to ANBU rank, but had yet to go on any missions as such, so the title of jonin would fit as well." Sakura said contemplating she had just risen to ANBU rank a week before Madara attacked the village, so she was never sent on a mission as an ANBU before she ended up here. Sarutobi sat there thinking about what to do, normally when a new shinobi entered the village they would be forced to the rank of genin and would either quickly rise in rank or steadily rise. But Sakura's case was different and it didn't seem quite right to make the young woman start as a genin. "I can give you the title jonin but nothing higher. I have little to no doubt about your story Sakura but given the circumstances I can not allow you to take the rank of ANBU." Sarutobi said explaining his reasoning to the young girl so that she knew he was treating her fairly.

Sakura nodded in understanding, to be quite honest she was just happy that she wasn't forced into the rank of genin. "Now where to place you? All of my jonin are already on set teams or have a genin team of their own." Sarutobi said mostly to himself, since they were at the brink of a war no one was sent out on solo missions and to help with who to send on missions all shinobi were set into teams and were only sent on missions on and with that team, thus preventing as many casualties as possible. Sarutobi looked toward Minato who had been quite for a long time now when and idea hit him, "Sakura you said you were a medical ninja right?" The old man asked looking back toward the rosette who nodded in response, making the old mans smile widen.

In this day and age medical ninja were very hard to come by, even after Tsunade had presented the fact that a medic on each team would prevent more casualties, it just took too long to train a ninja in the art of medicine and with a war on the way shinobi were more apt to hon their shinobi skills than try to learn medical ninjutsu. "How would you feel about being a jonin-sensei?" Sarutobi asked but even without saying anything he knew her answer. The look on her face said it all as her eyes brightened at the idea. Sakura had always wanted to be a Jonin-sensei of course she had wanted to serve her time as ANBU first and then step down when she was older but she still loved the idea.

"I would love to." She said trying to contain her excitement, she had always wanted to influence new shinobi like her sensei had for her and now she was being given the chance. "Minato isn't Rin learning medical ninjutsu?" Sarutobi asked turning toward the quite blonde who nodded slightly suspicious as to where this was all going, the old man had a glint in his eye that said he was up to something. "Sakura I'm going to assign you to Minato's team as a co-jonin-sensei, so that you can help teach Rin Medical jutsu as well as help teach Obito and Kakashi." The Hokage said looking between the two to see if either of them had a complaint, and surprisingly neither of them did. He was almost sure Minato would complain. "That actually is a good idea old man Rin's been struggling with her Medical jutsu." Minato admitted, the young girl showed potential but he had no clue when it came to the art of medical ninjutsu so he couldn't help her.

"If she's struggling now then she wont be when I'm done with her." Sakura said confidently she didn't mean for it to come off as arrogant but she truly was great at what she did, she had surpassed Tsunade years ago and she was still improving now.

"A little cocky aren't we." Minato said in a teasing way, he knew the girl didn't mean to come off as arrogant but he just wanted to mess with her for the hell of it. He felt like he could get her pretty riled up if he tried and that severed to be an interesting thing to test out sometime. "They didn't call me the top medic in all five great shinobi nations for nothing." Sakura said proudly, she wasn't going to fall for his ploy especially not when she was speaking the truth. Both men seemed shocked at her statement like they weren't expecting her to say such a thing.

"Is that so?" Sarutobi asked looking at the girl wanting for her to elaborate, there were many great healers in the five great nations, Tsunade being one of the top and yet this girl claimed she was the top in all the nations. "That's right, I was trained by Tsunade herself and surpassed her in strength and healing abilities a few years ago, she said I was a healing prodigy." Sakura said pridefully, Tsunade had always boosted her about her talents and it only got worse when she surpassed her and still kept improving it. This seemed to shock the two even more, but what she said answered a lot of questions. Tsunade was one of the best now in this time and to be trained by her in the future when she has most likely improved and yet this girl still surpassed her, that was a true accomplishment even Minato had to admit he was impressed with what she said.

Sarutobi stared at the young girl that had accomplished such a feat, he never would have imagined that someone would surpass Tsunade especially not such a young woman. "Then your coming here is fortunate for us, especially with the village on the brink of war." Sarutobi said smiling at the young girl, her healing abilities would surly help them out a great deal later on and with medic ninja being so hard to find it truly was fortunate for her to appear in Konoha. "Now I'm sure that you are tired and need some rest." Sarutobi said when Minato brought the girl to the hospital she was completely bloody and beaten and although she looked to be completely healed now he imagined that she was extremely tired from all the events that had taken place.

"Yes, but I'm afraid that I don't have a place to stay. I'm sure that someone is currently living in my old apartment." Sakura said stretching a little she really was exhausted but she was healed so there was no reason for her to stay in the hospital but she didn't have any place to stay. "Ah yes." Sarutobi said a look of thought coming across his face before a grin spread across his lips. _'Why is he doing that face that Tsunade does when shes up to something...?'_ Sakura thought warily, every time Tsunade had that kind of look on her face it meant she was up to something and whether it was good or bad was a mystery. "You can stay with Minato." The old man said not even bothering to ask the blonde.

"She can what?" Minato asked surprised at what the Hokage had just said, "You live in that big house all by your self, so you have the room why not?" The Hokage said, it was true he lived in a very big house for someone that lived alone. He lived in the house that his parents had left him and he certainly did have the room It was just the fact that the old man had volunteered him not only to be her new team mate but also her place to live. "There aren't any houses or apartments vacant in the village and no new construction has begun." The hokage said reasoning that Sakura had no choice but to live with someone. Minato visibly slumped in his seat knowing that the Hokage was right, and he truly did have more then enough room for her so it wouldn't be any inconvenience. "Ok." He said agreeing with Sarutobi's arrangement, there was no point in fighting with the old man.

"Good now why don't you take Sakura so she can get settled in." Sarutobi said, Sakura just stared at him blankly, she was surprised that the Hokage just dropped her off with the man in the room and further more the man agreed to it! "Come on." Minato said standing up motioning for the girl to stand as well, Sakura looked between the two men. "That's all right, that's really not necessary." Sakura said standing and putting her hands up for emphasis. She had no clue who this man was, she had just met him hours ago and now she was being told to live with him? Although she doubted the Hokage would let her live with someone that was crazy or anything... or would he...?

"No I insist, what kind of man would I be if I just let a woman sleep on the streets when I have a perfectly good vacant bedroom." Minato said smiling warmly at her, Sakura thought about it for a moment, he seemed nice enough and the Hokage trusted him, so it should be okay right? she nodded her head in agreement before walking to the blonde that was going to be her new housemate and team mate. As they got to the door Sakura turned around and bowed to the third Hokage, "Thank you Hokage-sama." She said sweetly, a warm smile gracing her face before she and Minato left.

The two walked down the street in silence, it wasn't a completely awkward silence but it wasn't exactly a peaceful silence either, there was a lot of people getting ready to end the day. It was maybe around 6:30 and Sakura could feel the effects of the days events coming down on her before plaguing her mind. She was stuck in this time, and there was no way to get back home. There was no way to see Naruto or Sasuke... if they were even still alive. The thought of them being dead made her heartache and her eyes burn but she kept her composure, she wasn't going to throw away years and years of shinobi training in the middle of the street. In a way the fact that she could not return to her time calmed her, there was nothing but death and pain in her time. And in this time she had the chance to change that all, the chance to give everyone she cared about a new life. Along with them she was given the chance to start over. To start a life without all the pain and heartache.

"Ne Sakura?" Minato's voice pulled her away from her thoughts she looked up at him to let him know she was listening, "Is the future really as bad as you say it is?" The blonde asked looking down at the rosette, worry in his eyes. She could tell that what she had said had bothered him and most likely he had been contemplating it from the moment she had said anything. "Not if I can help it..." Sakura said in a soft voice that was filled with confidence. At that very moment she decided that she was going to change the future and make it one worth looking forward to, one where people could smile. And if she happened to find happiness as well along the way then the gods were smiling upon her...

* * *

**Sooo...? Your thoughts? what did yall think?**

**Was it good? Bad? Needs work? **

**let me know what you think I love reading reviews!**

**But please no flames... I got a flame a little while ago and almost cried but then I thought fuck them rude people! lol**

**So tell me what you think and if you have any idea's for future chapters let me know!**

**5 Reviews till the next update to start out!  
**

**Until next time**

**MidnightShadow0110**


	2. Starting over

**REWRITTEN!  
**

**Okay so I got some advice from UNCPanda on how I should portray Minato, and his relationship with Sakura to help better the story. And I thought her ideas were awesome so I rewrote this chapter and UNCPanda helped with editing it and rewrote a few parts to help the story along! I love the change in the story, I think Minato so much better portrayed and the story flows much better!  
**

**And as you all know I will always give acknowledgement when it is due so I am giving huge props to UNCPanda, WHO IS NOW ALSO MY NEW CO-AUTHOR! :) I am soo happy to be writing this story with her and am excited to see how you guys to respond to the new chap!  
**

* * *

**So I got some reviews of constructive criticism that at first I thought well damn that's mean I feel like crap. But then I thought hey they are just trying to help and I love when people tell me whats wrong and what needs to be fixed, I guess I just don't get too many reviews like that so when I got two it hit me a little bit so thank you missjewels and yellow flash for pointing some things out for me.**

**missjewels: Thank you so much for pointing out my grammar and sentence mistakes, I took your advice and went back and edited my first chapter and now the edited version is uploaded. I know my I suck at editing and miss a tone of stuff and I need to get a beta reader but the last person that offered never responded :(. But I hope that my first chapter didn't make you not want to read this story. I know I make the characters OOC But in my defense I don't really know how Minato acts, I mean I know hes kind hearted and heroic but I kind of pictured him as a Naruto but more of a man. (If you know a better way to characterize him please let me know!) and as for Sakura I characterized her to what I thought she would be as a 20 year old, we all know that Sakura wasn't the strongest person in Naruto but she always showed a lot of potential even Kakashi had said she would surpass the Hokage so I kinda went off that. And she has always had a bad temper so I added her bad mouth in there. Sometimes my characterization is a little messed up so again if you have any pointers please just let me know. As for the description I just kinda mature Sakura to a 20 year old body (or what I think she would look like) cuz shes only 15 in the series. (I know that was a lot but I was just answering to what you had said :) thank you again for all your help it really opened my eyes to what I want this story to be)**

**Yellow flash: Don't worry I have read the stories where they fall for each other right away and they make me want to scream I mean where is the plot people! But trust me there is no "OMG I'm in love even though we just met" kind of stuff in this story, Minato does have a slight physical attraction to Sakura but thats about it for now :) And as for the portrayal of characters again as I said to missjewels if you have an idea as to how I can better portray the characters please let me know! :)**

**And to anyone else that has any pointers for me to help me improve my stories please don't hesitate to tell me, there's no way I can improve as a writer if I don't get any constructive criticism**

**So without further ado here is the next Chapter to Ripple Effect!**

* * *

**Starting over**

The fact that she wasn't in her own bed, hit Sakura pretty quickly. As the previous day's events came forward from whatever deep dark cavern they had crawled into allowing her to sleep, she fought to keep it together. Stomping down whatever emotion was building; she tossed the sheets to the side and walked to the bedroom door. Six in the morning was early, almost too early. Sakura wasn't a morning person. She much preferred to stay up through the night. Years of graveyard shifts being the reason, but things were different now. She had a team now . . . with Minato. She slowly opened the door, sticking only her head out, only to come face to face to with Minato. His room was right across from hers and he was obviously a morning person. "Good morning." He said softly smiling down at her bed head and half lidded eyes.

"He would be a fucking morning person..." She said mostly to herself but the blonde still heard her, Minato gave a disapproving look as he looked down at the rosette, she was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday showing just how exhausted she was. So he let the language slide. Sakura ignored the look as she leaned against the door frame for support. They both stood there staring at each other, before Minato spoke "The shower is down the hall, towels and toiletries are in there as well as a some workout clothes." With that he turned and began walking in the opposite direction, already showered and dressed, Sakura noticed with a scowl.  
Normally Sakura wasn't usually rude toward people she had just met but she was tired and running on almost empty not to mention it was too early in the morning for her to even care about common curtsey.

* * *

Sakura walked down the stairs to the kitchen, she had just finished getting ready and was heading down for some much needed coffee. She wore a black tank top, underneath the top she had on a fish net turtle neck shirt that clung to her, but still showed a bit of skin. She wore a pair of black spandex shorts that reached mid-thigh and fish netting underneath that went half way to her knee on her left leg and just above her knee on her right leg. Her standard kunai pouches were also in place, along with the standard black ninja sandals. She had her hair up in a high pony tail that was held up by senbon, and her Konoha headband was tied around her hips in a loose belt. The Hokage had given her some money to buy new clothes, considering her old ones were trashed, and she would make it a priority to get new clothes.

Once she reached the kitchen she walked over to an already brewed coffee pot and poured herself a cup. She didn't bother to sit at the choosing instead to sit on the counter and thank whatever god there might be that she landed in a time with coffee. The silence was comfortable enough, but it gave her time to think. Which meant no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't avoid the painful truth of what had happened, and she so didn't need a break down. When she was busy, Sakura could put everything out of her mind. Put off dealing with the death of the person she loved the most in the world and not think about it, but when she sat and did nothing thoughts would flood her mind. No matter how short the amount of time it she would be plagued by whatever she was trying to block out.

She was stuck... In a different time... and she wouldn't be able to see any of her friends... not until they were born and even then they wouldn't be her friends... they would be the next generation. Then a flash of her friend's lying dead on the ground came to the front most of her mind. It was that thought that made her eyes burn. She quickly closed them to stop the buildup of unwanted tears. She wasn't going to cry, especially not in front of someone she barely knew.

The fact that Sakura was going through some inner turmoil, and seemed to be in her own thoughts was obvious to Minato. He needed to pull her out of her thoughts and quick, "We should get going." It was a lame attempt to help her and he knew it, but it effectively pulled the woman from her thoughts. Sakura nodded pushing the depressing thoughts to the back of her mind. Setting their coffee mugs in the sink housemates headed out the door and down the street to the training grounds. Sakura watched Minato out of the corner of her eyes. For Minato it was just another day, he would smile at the people he recognized, and give a greeting or two. For Sakura it was like a good dream. Everything was right, nothing destroyed. The streets felt like home but in truth she was a stranger here. Then there was the annoying little fact that everyone seemed to stare in wonder. She tried not to hold it against anyone, in her time people were used to the pink haired kunoichi.  
"Soo..." Sakura started, trying to strike up a conversion, mostly so her attention wasn't on all the people that were staring at her. Only to be interrupted.

"We're going to be late, are you opposed to a short cut?" Sakura stopped and starred. From what she could tell, Konoha of the past was almost identical to the one she had come and they were currently walking the quickest and most direct route to the grounds. Minato elaborated before she could think too much, pulling out a strange looking kunai that had some sort of kanji on the handle. "It's a jutsu I invented myself, an advanced form of the body flicker technique. Anything I mark with this seal." He pointed to the kanji. "Allows me to hone in on and transport myself to the location of that object instantly." He finished putting the kunai back into his holster. He figured that if the Hokage trusted her and she was going to be his co-leader she needed to learn about his techniques, just like he would make it his mission to find out about hers.

Sakura stared in amazement, she was awe struck by what Minato had just told her. In her time there wasn't a shinobi who could pull off a jutsu of that level. Except Genma and Raido who had been taught by the Fourth and even they had to do it together with one other person. That's when it hit her. The man before her was the Fourth Hokage! She blamed fatigue for not piecing that one together sooner, frustrated with herself for missing something like that. It took everything she had not to bow to the man; he wasn't the Hokage. Then a pain hit her heart as she realized the man before her was her best friend's father.

While Sakura was off in her own world of utter amazement, Minato grabbed her by the waist, pulling Sakura out of her thoughts before activating the jutsu, her squawk of protest being cut off as they arrived at the training grounds. Rin and Kakashi were standing there waiting for them but Obito was nowhere to be seen. Shooting a glare at Minato as she spun out of his grip, her foot caught on root that was sticking out from the ground and fell face first onto the grass covered ground below. Sakura cursed under her breath as she sat up holding her bloody nose. Her fingers began to glow a bright green as she started to heal her nose. It wasn't broken but it hurt like hell. "Sakura refrain from such language in front of my students." Minato asked, his tone neutral and face blank. Not caring for her choice of language in front of his 12 year old students.

"You mean 'our' students? And I'll use whatever kind of language I damn feel like." She could tell he didn't like her cursing, but he had let her fall face first into the fucking ground when he could damn well have stopped it.

"I'm late. I know! I'm sorry! Did I miss anything?" Obito yelled running up to the group effectively breaking up the argument that was about to take place. There was a long pause of silence making the young Uchiha wonder what exactly he had missed.

"I'm sorry miss but did you say your students?" Rin said breaking the silence her attention solely on Sakura.

Sakura nodded "Starting today I'm also your sensei, and don't call me miss. I'm too young to be a miss, I'm only 20." Sakura said a smile on her face; the three young gennin looked toward Minato for confirmation. Minato allowed a small smile he could tell by how Sakura acted that she had wanted to be a jounin sensei and this wasn't just a spur of the moment kind of thing. "It's true. The Hokage assigned her to the team." he said looking toward his team. The whole arrangement would prove to be interesting, considering that most gennin teams only had one jounin-sensei. Teamwork was going to be key. "Why is she being assigned to our team if we already have a sensei?" Obito asked a little confused, he had never heard of a team having more than one sensei. "The Hokage thought it would be beneficial to put her on the team. Sakura-san is a well-rounded medic. Which will be a big help to Rin-chan. She might even be able to teach you two a thing or two." Minato explained. Sakura nodded in agreement.

Rin smiled at Sakura excited at the prospect of someone with medical experience to help her training. Sakura looked to Minato. "I'm just going to watch you guys train so that I can see where your strengths and weakness' are." Sakura said simply, she didn't feel the need to jump right in with training. She needed to see where everyone was at and how to fit herself into that equation. Not to mention she and Minato needed to talk big time about how to make this work. It was logical to learn what each of the students was capable of and then talk to Minato about how to proceed. Minato smiled happy with Sakura's decision. He had already planned today's training exercise and was glade he didn't have to change it.

"Today we are going to revisit an old exercise to examine your progression." Minato said pulling out two small bells that were attached to red string. Obito groaned, Sakura had to bite her lip to keep herself from joining in, "You remember the rules you must work as a team to try and get these bells away from me before 5pm." Minato said knowing how much his students detested this training method. _'Now I know where he got the idea.'_ Sakura thought a small smile spreading across her face remembering the first and second times she had done this test. "But sensei we already know the motive behind this test is to test our team work." Rin said a little confused, when they had first taken the test at the end Minato had told them that the test was used to see if they could work together as a team or not. Minato nodded in agreement. "That's true but I need to see how much you have improved over the year. I can't very well let you take the chunnin exams in a month if you're not ready." Minato said smiling at Rin. She had always been a bright student.

The three gennin nodded in understanding, shifting into fighting stances as Minato did the same and in a flash all four of them disappeared. 'Well this should be entertaining.' Sakura thought a smile on her face as she sat back and waited for the show to begin.

* * *

Sakura and Minato walked down the busy streets of Konoha, it was almost 5:30 and they were heading home from the gennin training session. Over all Sakura was pretty impressed at what she saw, Obito was very advanced in his fire jutsu, reminding her a bit of Sasuke in that aspect. She was a little concerned about head to head confrontation; he seemed to freeze, and if left unaddressed it would get him killed. Rin seemed to be lacking in the departments of speed, ninjutsu and taijutsu. She also seemed to lean toward none abrasive tactics. She reminded Sakura of herself when she was young, she seemed very smart and well-rounded when it came to tactics but when it came to head to head fighting she had no real abilities.

Then there was Kakashi, he was just as much a smart ass pain in the ass as always. In a way she was glad to see that some things didn't change. He was smart, cunning, powerful and always waited for the right time to attack. But he seemed to be a bit of a lone wolf and was very lacking in the team work department. She couldn't help a snort at that. He didn't seem to think that his team mates were up to his level, and no matter how strong he was if he didn't find a way to work with his team and collaborate his strengths and weakness' with theirs then he very well could get himself killed, not to mention his team. "So what do you think?" Minato asked, pulling Sakura out of her thoughts. She thought over her answer for a moment, thinking of the right words to say. "I was impressed, you've trained them well." She started making Minato allowed his small smile to come on to his lips. It was really the first nice thing she and said to him since she had arrived.

"But Obito needs to find a way to face his fears when it comes to head to head combat. Rin seems to be lacking in the ninjutsu, and taijutsu, departments. Key things she needed to hone on top of her medical ninjustsu if she wanted to be a field medic. And of course I'm sure you've noticed Kakashi's lack of team work." Sakura said summing up what she had witnessed. Minato of course knew these faults in his team; they were things he had been working on with them for a year now. But it would take years of training to improve and perfect these faults in the team. "How is Rin's medical ninjutsu?" Sakura asked looking up at the tall blonde, she had witnessed Rin heal the two boys' small cuts and wounds after the training but her chakra seemed to waver even with the simple medical ninjutsu it took to heal the small wounds.  
"She does pretty well with the basics but her chakra control is a little off." Minato said confirming Sakura's thoughts. But if the three gennin were going to be taking the chunnin exams in a month there really wasn't a lot she could do. She would have to work on a few of the basics to help her improve a little so that she would be ready for the exams.

"So how would you like to proceed with tomorrow's training? Now that you've seen what they can do we can coordinate on how to train them." Minato said. She smiled at the tall man glad that they were on the same page.

"I would like to train them with a head to head exercise to help improve their defense and ability to dodge attacks." She said thinking about where to begin, a good shinobi had to be able to put up a good defense it was one of the basics of combat and she figured that was a good place as any to start, especially with Rin.  
"How do you plan to do that?" Minato asked his interest peaked a little with curiosity as to what she was planning. "I'm going to use an old training exercise that my sensei used on me." Sakura said smiling remembering her training with Tsunade. She had started in the same place with Sakura and Sakura planned to use it on the three gennin.

"Minato!" A loud voice echoed throughout the streets of Konoha, Sakura could see the man next to her visibly freeze. She looked behind her to see who was calling the blonde male next to her. A woman about her age with long vibrant, knee length hair, and warm gray eyes came running down the street toward Sakura and Minato. Once she reached the two she smiled a warm cheesy smile, "Hey Minato, who's your friend." The woman asked looking toward Sakura with a smile.  
"This is Sakura Haruno." Minato said gesturing to Sakura, his voice was less cheerful and the smile on his faced seemed a little forced. "Hi nice to meet you, I'm Kushina." the red head said her voice warm and enthusiastic.

"Nice to meet you." Sakura said smiling back toward the red head; she recognized the woman's name. 'So this is Naruto's mother. That explains the personality.' Sakura thought a warm smile on her face though Minato was acting a little strange around the girl he was dating. Brushing it off as nerves she gave the woman her attention. "Are you new to Konoha?" Kushina asked

"You could say that." She had her orders. The Hokage had told her not to tell anyone about her being from the future, not that she thought anyone would believe her. But Sarutobi had said that to be safe the information should be kept between the three of them. "Really? You should join me and some of the girls for drinks tonight!" Kushina said excitedly, hoping that maybe she would find a new drinking partner in Sakura. Sakura's eyes brightened at the mention of drinking, aside from her super strength and healing ability she had also acquired Tsunade's love for drinking. She looked toward an uncomfortable Minato and was reminded that she had to get up early tomorrow.

"I would love to but I can't, I have to get up early for training tomorrow." She said visibly slumping at the fact that she had to pass up a perfectly good Saturday night drink.

"Oh come on I insist." Kushina said a smile still on her face, the suggestion tempted Sakura but she knew that getting up the next morning would be hell, another lesson courtesy of Tsunade.

"Maybe some other time." Sakura said trying to be polite but the expression on Kushina's face made her a little worried. She was still smiling but the smile seemed a bit forced, her happy attitude now containing a hint of anger in it. "No I insist. I've never lost an argument and I'm not starting now." Kushina said her smile still in place but her voice was rising in volume.

"She really won't give up till you go." Minato whispered in Sakura's ear making her realize that she was going out tonight whether she wanted to or not, even though she really did want to go.

"Alright then."

"Great, meet me at the Blue Moon bar around 8:30." Kushina said her voice back to its cheerful, high pitch. The red head walked away waving to the two as she went.  
"I think I like her." Sakura said a broad grin on her face as she and Minato began to walk again.

"Imagine that." Minato said, sounding a bit irritated for reasons unknown to Sakura. But she brushed it off too happy she was getting to go out tonight.

* * *

"Wait so you're saying your living with Minato?" Kushina said a bit too loudly, a cup of Sake in her hand, it was her third cup since they had arrived there. Kushina was sitting to her left taking another swig of her drink, Sakura found she had already taken a liking to her, they were very similar and she knew that Kushina would be able to keep up with her at the bars as well. On her right was Mikoto Uchiha, who was sipping water after she had finished her one cup of Sake. It was slightly strange to be sitting next to the mother of Itachi and Sasuke. She was exactly how Sakura had pictured her, kind, intelligent, with a fiery spirit and the entire refined lady like poise that was demanded of the wife to the Uchiha clan leader. She was a little surprised that Mikoto had gotten married at the young age of 20, four years ago and already had given birth to Itachi three and a half years ago. But she figured that during this day and age big clans like the Uchiha were supposed to get married at a young age, especially the clan leader.

On Kushina's left was to Sakura's surprise Kiba's mother, Tsume Inuzuka. She was just as wild as her elder counterpart but she looked different, her hair was less wild, it was straight and just barely brushed past her shoulders, but the red triangles on her cheeks were the same. Tsume was on her 5th drink and was still going strong with the other two. "Yeah the Hokage arranged it, because there aren't any vacant buildings available. I hope it doesn't bother you Kushina." Sakura said taking a swig of her 4th drink finishing it off and motioning for the bar tender to get her a new glass. She stared at Kushina waiting for a response, she didn't want to step on anyone's toes, and she really liked Kushina, and she wanted to be friends. But she didn't know how well the red head would take her living with her boyfriend.  
"Why would it bother me?" Kushina said looking confused as she took another sip of her drink. This confused Sakura; if some woman randomly appeared and was living with her boyfriend she would be beyond pissed and would have been knocking down walls by now. Not that she was upset that Kushina seemed fine with the situation but she was just confused. Most girls were just as if not more jealous than she could be. "Umm well... I thought since you guys are together..." She let her sentence fade away still confused.

There was a long period silence that was only filled with the background noise of the other people in the bar when Kushina started to burst out laughing. Sakura stared in confusion as the red head loudly laughed finding what she had said funny. Mikoto and Tsume shook their heads at Kushina's behavior. The woman got very loud and a little crazy when she drank, even though she was loud when she was sober. "We aren't together! I mean we dated but I broke it off with him last year!" Kushina yelled out slamming her hands on the bar counter, emphasizing her humor. Sakura stiffened _'But she's supposed to be Naruto's mother..._

"Poor Minato he was in love with you Kushina but you just kicked him to the curb. I don't think he's even over it yet. Mikoto said shaking her head at remembering the break up, Kushina had walked away unscratched but Minato was a wreck not that he showed it.

"Not only that but he won't date anyone else! Way to ruin every woman in Konoha's dreams Kushina! He's Konoha's most eligible bachelor and he refuses to get back in the dating game!" Tsume whined with a dreamy look in her eyes. Sakura couldn't imagine Minato being Konoha's most eligible bachelor, she thought an Uchiha would take that role... or maybe that was just in her time.

"Well excuse me for not leading him on." Kushina said sticking her noise in the air while waiting for her 5th drink to arrive, Sakura stared at her with a strange look in her eyes while downing her 5th drink, 'lead him on...?' She thought wondering what happened.

"So you guys aren't together?" the rosette asked making sure she had heard right.

"Nope." Kushina said leaning against the bar for support, the alcohol starting to take effect over her body.

"But you guys will get back together right?" Sakura said sounding hopeful, they had to be together, if they weren't together then Naruto would never be born... right? Tsume and Mikoto started to laugh lightly next to the pinkette making Sakura even more confused.

"Honestly I don't see us ever getting back together. I mean Minato is a great guy and everything, he was my first love... It's just that I don't feel that way anymore. And I couldn't bring myself to be with someone I didn't love." Kushina said lessening Sakura's confusion but increasing her troubling thoughts about her blonde best friend.

_'I'll go talk to the Hokage... I need to find out what this means...'_ Sakura thought slumping against the bar, downing her 6th drink as it was presented to her; the glass didn't even touch the counter for a second before it was at the girl's lips and the liquid was down her throat. She was going to need the liquid substance... and a lot of it if she was going to get through tonight without having a break down.

_'Naruto... I will make sure you are born...'_

* * *

Minato walked down the dimly light streets with purpose as he walked toward the bar. It was 2:45 in the morning and Sakura was still not back from her trip to the bar! He was about half way to the bar that Sakura was at when he saw a few familiar faces. Mikoto was walking down the street with her husband Fugaku, an overly drunk Tsume's arms slung over the two's shoulders. "Minato!" Mikoto greeted walking up to the tall blonde, Fugaku nodded in greeting and Minato did the same. Minato wasn't exactly close enough to Fugaku to call him a close friend but they did go out with a few other guys every now and then for drinks. Fugaku was quiet and very stoic most of the time but they were close enough to be considered more than just acquaintances.

"Are you going to pick up Sakura?" Mikoto asked a glint of something in her eye that he didn't recognize. He nodded in response letting her know that that was why he was out so late. "Thank goodness, she's a sweet girl but she's just as bad if not worse than Kushina when it comes to drinking." Mikoto said making Minato's eyes widen a little bit, when Kushina drank things got out of hand, as in bar brawl out of hand. "I would have stayed with her but I need to get back home to Itachi and Tsume needed help getting home." Mikoto said a sorry look on her face, normally she would stay with the two girls until someone came to pick them up or till they were ready to go home and walk them home, but it was almost 3am and was too late.

"It's alright Mikoto. Thank you for staying with them as long as you did." Minato said disappearing in the direction of the bar. He arrived within seconds and quickly walked in through the door, the instant smell of booze hitting his nose. There were two large groups of people one was a group of mostly guys around the bar and the other was a mix of people on the dance floor. Minato instantly spotted Kushina dancing very drunkenly on the floor with a group of guys around her. He quickly pushed through the drunken men to Kushina, "Where's Sakura?" He asked looking a little concerned at the red head in front of him, she had of course over done it with the drinks again and could barely stand up straight. Kushina pouted at the fact that the blonde had pushed the men away from her but none the less pointed off in the direction of the bar.

Minato looked toward the large group of people trying to see if he could find the pink haired girl but found no trace of her... until he looked up.  
Sakura was sitting there throwing drinks back, reminding him a bit of Tsunade... Once he reached the bar he lightly tugged on the bottom of Sakura's shirt to get her attention. She lazily looked up at the blonde a drunk smile boarding her face. "Eyyy Minaaatooo Ssupp." she said slurring her words terribly as she continued to smile up at him,

"Come on Sakura it's time to go." Minato said pulling at her shirt a little harder to emphasize that they needed to go. Sakura gave him a pout before she stood up and started to dance to the music, "Nnoooo I'mmm going to gooooo Dancccin!" she cheered moving her hips to the beat Minato was about to just grab her the drunk rosette lost her footing and toward the blonde.

He easily caught her making sure she didn't fall on her face, Sakura stayed in his arms for a minute before looking up, a confused look on her face that slowly changed to a smile. "Youuu knnnowww youuu havvve beaufullll bluuue eyesss." she slurred smiling up at the man making a blush creep across his tanned face. While Minato was distracted Sakura walked back over to the bar to the drink she had left half full. Minato quickly recovered grabbing the glass before Sakura could, "I think you've had enough." He said placing the glass behind the bar and out of her reach. Sakura quickly tried to lean over the bar to try and grab at her drink again. "Myyyy sakeeeee!" She whined out mad that the man had taken her beverage. Minato signed figuring out she really was just as bad at Kushina and that she didn't know when to stop. He slowly warped his arms around her waist and pried her from the bars counter top. "Minatooooo! stooooooppp! That's minnnne!" Sakura yelled trying to get out of the blonde grasp but was too drunk to really put too much energy in it. Minato slowly lifted Sakura up over his shoulder knowing if he was going to get her out of the bar he was going to have to carry her.

He headed straight for the door stopping when he realized Kushina was still dancing on the dance floor, she wouldn't be able to get home by herself, she would probably end up in a dumpster if she walked home alone. He quickly searched the room looking to see if he recognized anyone while Sakura pounded on his back. His eyes landed on a familiar face and walked up to the man, he had short black hair and matching black eyes. "Hey Kyo." Minato said in greeting to the Uchiha male,  
"Minato." Kyo greeted back throwing a questioning look to Sakura who was still pounding on his back.

"Don't ask." Minato said not wanting to explain everything at the moment. "Anyway I have a favor to ask. Could you make sure she gets home alright?" Minato asked pointing to Kushina who was starting to get tired. He had known Kyo for years they had gone on missions together and Minato knew he was a respectable man that wouldn't do anything to a defenseless drunk woman. Kyo looked over at Kushina and nodded to his friend letting him know that he would take care of her. The blonde thanked the Uchiha before turning to go home Sakura still drunkenly pounding on his back.

Not wanting to draw unneeded attention to himself with Sakura yelling Minato quickly flashed to his home. He unlocked the door and headed up to the woman's bedroom, by this time Sakura had already calmed down and seemed to be pretty close to passing out. He gently laid the woman on her bed before covering her up she seemed to be asleep now. He was about to leave the room when something caught the edge of his shirt, he looked down to find Sakura grabbing at his shirt... a look of sadness on her face. Minato turned around to face the girl wondering why she seemed so sad all of a sudden.

"Naruto... Please don't... Leave me..." She whispered out...

* * *

**dun Dun Duhhhhhhh!**

**So what did you guys think?  
**

**I hope you guys liked it!  
**

**let me know what you think and review!  
**

**5 reviews till the next update!  
**

**Until next time  
**

**MidnightShadow0110  
**


	3. To Change the Tides

**CHAPTER 2 REWRITTEN! EVERYONE GO BACK AND REREAD! ITS SOOOO MUCH BETTER  
**

**So as i disclaimed above chapter two has been rewritten and everyone should go back and read it because a lot has changed.  
**

**Now down to business :)  
**

**1) I now have a new co-author! Who will be writing this story with me :) UNCPanda  
**

**She had pointed out a few things about chapter two and gave me pointers on how to make Minato less OOC and offered to help edit the chapter. And then came up with some awesome ideas that I think make the story 10 times better! So now we are co- authoring the story together!  
**

**2) Like I said before go back and reread the 2nd chap :)  
**

**Okay now here we go chapter 3 to Ripple Effect!  
**

**NOTE: IF YOU HAVE NOT GONE BACK AND REREAD CHAPTER 2 DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNTIL YOU DO!  
**

* * *

**To Change the Tides**

She was in Hell there was just no other option for the pain in her head, the banging coming out of nowhere was just confirmation. She groaned as the horrid sound became louder and louder. Too tired to even bother think of stopping the noise, Sakura hid her head under her pillow, before yelling, "Go away Naruto, it's too damn early for any sort of training!"

"First off, it's Minato, and second of all its seven thirty in the morning. You have to get up!" Minato said, continuing to knock on the door. Sakura bit the curse on her tongue and groaned into her pillow in protest, making no attempt to move from her bed.

Minato waited a total of sixty seconds before opening the door and throwing a kunai at the bed. Sakura's instincts kicked in as she sprang from the bed. "Come on Sakura." Sakura landed in a crouch before lifting her head to glare at Minato. Of course that lasted a total of two seconds as her headache returned with a vengeance. Bringing her hands up to hold her head, a string of curses made their way out of Sakura's mouth. "You bastard! Are you trying to fucking kill me?"

With a straight face that Sakura would have never been able to maintain Minato simply asked "You dodged didn't you?" and then left.

Minato made his way to the kitchen, he was going to need coffee if this was any indication of how his day was going to be. Sakura made her appearance ten minutes later dressed in a normal jounin uniform, a scowl etched onto her face, right as the coffee finished, "I hate you." She said glaring at Minato. He simply took a sip of his coffee.

"I'm not the one that made you drink your-self silly last night." Minato said, taking another sip.

Pouring herself some much needed coffee she sat down at the table, letting her hand glowed green in an attempt to sooth her hang over. The two housemates sat in silence before Minato decided to ruin it all. "Whose Naruto?" He questioned, making Sakura choke on her coffee and stop her healing session on her head. "What?" Sakura managed to choke out once she regained some of her composure. "Last night, and this morning you called me Naruto. Who is he?" Minato asked once again. Sakura's face became solemn, every ounce of emotion disappearing before her eyes softened. "Naruto was..." Sakura started but her sentence faded away into the air. The pain was still raw more than raw, it was an open wound that was inflamed and burning. "So he was your lover." Minato said giving an understanding smile as he looked at the rosette. Sakura almost choked on her coffee for the second time that day. "No, no, no! Naruto wasn't a lover!" Sakura said a little panicked, the thought of such a thing made her sick, he was basically her brother "He was a dear friend... like a brother... He was the closest thing I had to a family after my parents died, and I was the same to him..." Sakura said a sad smile spreading across her face. It was small but Minato caught it.

* * *

Sakura had been waiting with Minato, Rin and Kakashi for thirty minutes. Kakashi was in a full out annoyed mood and Rin's impatience was starting to show. Yes, Sakura hated waiting, but she was more than used to it, and by the way Minato and her two new students were acting something told her that this was going to be an everyday occurrence. In the meantime Sakura attempted to ease the pain in her head. Hangovers were hard to sooth with healing chakra, mostly for the fact that alcohol was a bitch and hated the human body, no matter how much humans loved it. After a few more minutes of waiting Obito made his entrance, "Sorry I'm late! There was this old lady who needed help with carrying some bags..." Obito started letting his sentence fade away. Sakura's eyes snapped open as the urge to smack him came forward but she decided against it. Instead her eyes narrowed as the source of Kakashi's excuses came to life… She was so going to beat that habit out of the both of them.

"So what are we doing today Sensei?" Rin asked looking up at Minato, completely ignoring Obito's excuses.

Minato gave her a small smile, "Actually Sakura will be the one taking over training exercises today." Minato gestured to the pinkette who had taken to nursing her hang over once again. The three gennin looked to their new appointed co-sensei.

"But Sakura-sensei doesn't look so good." Rin said slightly concerned with her new female sensei. True to what the brunette had said Sakura seemed a little pale, with bags lining under her eyes, and her hair was a bit of a mess from a lack of brushing.

"Well maybe she shouldn't drink the night before a training session." Kakashi said showing no sympathy for his new sensei. Sakura shot him a glare,_ 'You never mentioned you were a cocky little bastard when you were younger Kakashi!'_ she thought, adding another thing to the 'must beat out of Kakashi list'. "What I do off the clock is none of your damn business Kaka-chan." Sakura said, making sure the ending was said in a sweet tone. Obito blinked once before he burst out laughing, Rin's giggles accompanying the loud laughter. Sakura gave them a few minutes before bringing her fingers to her mouth and letting out an ear-piercing whistle.  
"Okay... first things first, can any of you tell me the most important aspect of shinobi fundamental?" Sakura asked looking between the three gennin. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Minato going to sit under a nearby tree.

"Chakra control."

"Offensive Strategy."

"Teamwork."

Sakura sighed they had given the most common answers among gennin. "No, No, and close, the answer is a good defense." She finished giving them the correct answer. Obito, whose answer had been the complete opposite, gave her a questioning look, not quite understanding where his new sensei was coming from.  
"Without a good defense you'll be dead before you even need to worry about your offense." Sakura said. There was no use in sugar coating it they were Shinobi and their lives were not meant to be long, and the ones who neglected the more important parts of their training were the ones that died first. She waited a few minutes to take in their reactions. Kakashi seemed to be unfazed, but Obito and Rin seemed a little shocked. "Rin can you tell me why evasion and defense are extremely important to a medic-nin?" Sakura asked looking at her new apprentice in the eye.

Rin looked away after a few seconds and Sakura gave the answer, "A medic is a crucial asset on their team. They can be the deciding factor between life and death for their teammates, because of this they're usually the first ones who are targeted. If you take out a medic you limit a team's survival to about fifty percent, if you're lucky. That's why their evasion and defensive skills should be the most advanced on their team." Sakura said reciting the words Tsunade had drilled into her on day one. An injured or dead medic might as well be a death warrant for their teammates. Rin stared at Sakura as her words sunk in. The young girl smiled up at her new sensei, it was a smile Sakura made sure to return. "So if any of you weren't able to guess, today's training exercise is going to be based on evasion and defense." Sakura said smiling at her team a glint of mischief in her eyes, ohhh Kami was she going to enjoy this.

"You have five seconds to scatter." Sakura said becoming serious, this was an intense work out and none of them were going to come out unscratched. But if all went well the three gennin would come out with an understanding of what she had been talking about. The gennin stared at her confusion in their eyes as she pulled gloves out of her back pouch and pulled them on. Kakashi and Rin shifted into defensive stances as Obito took their new sensei's warning to hear and took to the trees. Taking a second to pump chakra into her fist Sakura slammed her fist into the earth without warning the result came seconds later as the earth cracked and shifted from the force. Sakura stood behind the destruction no emotion on her face. Kakashi and Rin took to the same tree as Obito just barely making it out of the impact zone before being crushed.

There were a few moments of silence as the dust cleared to reveal the demolished training ground and the three stunned gennin. There was no emotion on Sakura's face, she was their enemy right now, and Sensei was just a side title at the moment. "Sakura..." Minato's voice echoed over the silence from behind her stopping Sakura for a moment from her attack on the children. "Remind me to never make you mad again..." He finished staring at the damage done by such a small women. He was surprised and impressed, he hadn't expected the petite woman to contain such strength. Sakura allowed a small smirk before her face went blank again. She then picked up a large chunk of earth and slammed her fist into it, she could hear the rustle of leaves as the gennin tried to escape. They could run but they couldn't hide.

* * *

The three had done pretty well with dodging whatever large object or weapons Sakura had aimed at them until about half way through. That's when the three began to tier and got a little sloppy, Sakura was grateful that none of them were really hurt; she had been determined to keep up the training exercise till the end. Luckily there weren't too many big injuries, a broken leg here, and a deep gash there, nothing Sakura couldn't repair. But after training from 8am to 5pm and healing all the gennin's injuries Sakura had been left with just a little more than half her chakra left.

Not that she needed chakra to shop. The fact that she had lost all of her earthly possessions hadn't hit Sakura until she had seen the standard jounin uniform that morning, the shudder that went through her spine might as well have come from an earthquake. So here Sakura was, in one of the more trendy boutiques that Konoha held. The shop varied from casual wear to evening dresses to effective kunoichi clothing. The shop owner, Kisa Sakai, was a retired chunnin kunoichi with a love of fashion and a brutally honest mouth to accompany it. No one walked out of the woman's store with something that would look horrid on them. Kisa lived to prevent crimes against fashion. Sakura couldn't count the number of times Ino had dragged her into the woman's store, nor could she remember all the hours they had spent looking at the clothes.

Sakura of course shopped for the necessities first; fish netting, black spandex shorts, tank tops, and the short heels she had taken to wearing like Tsunade, having taken to the workout outfit from yesterday. It was easy to move in and allowed her the grace needed to complete certain justsu.

"Too much black can be a bit depressing dear, and in our line of work we are treated to more than our fair share of sadness." Sakura looked over her shoulder to meet the eyes of a much younger Kisa Sakai. In Sakura's time the woman had aged fairly well, having allowed her hair to turn its natural gray with age stating that what you saw was what you got, her green eyes were much the same still bright and keen, and her figure Kami bless the woman had stayed in tip top shape. However this Kisa Sakai was in her prime. Her hair was a wavy dark brown and her little black dress matched with purple pumps was flawless, her skin tanned just the right amount.

"Red would be best, it would complement your hair enough without clashing, give you just a pop of color . . . plus you won't see the blood without squinting." Kisa said turning away from Sakura to dig through a pile bright colored cloth. With a flourish and grace that somebody who hadn't spent her life being a perfection of grace would have never been able to pull off Kisa presented a long red sash. "Tie it like an obi and you'll kick ass and look good." With a wink Kisa left Sakura to help another one of her patrons. Sakura was glad to see that some things didn't change. Glancing up at the next floor of the store, where casual clothes were kept, Sakura blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and trudged upstairs. Taking time to pick out a few sundresses, a few pairs of pajamas, a bathrobe and some other everyday clothes, Sakura proceeded to the cash register; fully ready to go home and take a nap.

As the woman behind the counter rang Sakura up, she listened to the conversation going on behind her by two older women.

"I know I'm so proud of her, she passed her final exam yesterday and tomorrow is her team picture, so I'm picking this up as a little surprise."

Sakura paused as she took her bags from the cashier. Team picture. Switching her bags to one hand Sakura threw down the money, yelled "Keep the change," and dashed out of the store. Once onto the streets Sakura took to the roof tops pushing her legs to go faster. Reaching her destination Sakura dropped back to the street and dashed through the double doors of the hospital and ran straight to the front desk. Her heart about to jump out of her chest Sakura gripped the counter as the receptionist looked up at her, more than a little startled.

"Are you . . ."

Sakura didn't let her finish "My name is Sakura Haruno I was brought in several days ago due to injury, I was in room nine hundred thirty four. You took my clothes because they were messed up so badly but I need them back." Sakura all but yelled. The receptionist stared at her for a moment before seeing the pleading in the girl's eyes. Setting down her pen and closing the folder she had been working on the receptionist stood "I'll see what I can do."  
Sakura thanked her as she walked off and went to take a seat on one of the provided couches. Setting her bags by her feet, Sakura settled in for a wait. Leaning her head back Sakura closed her eyes, allowing hair to fall in front of them. A few minutes later the seat next to her depressed, opening her eyes a smidge Sakura glanced to the side. "Hokage-sama." She acknowledged.

The third gave her a smile "Sakura-san." Closing her eyes again, they sat in silence until the receptionist returned. "You're lucky Ms. Haruno, they were about to throw it out today." The woman said a smile on her face as Sakura thanked her for the bag and hurriedly opened it. Pulling out her old and torn bloody shorts, she fished through the pockets for a moment before her eyes lit up; she pulled out an old team picture. It was torn at some of the edges and was faded but was intact. Looking over her shoulder Sarutobi found a picture of a 12 year old Sakura, a broad smile on her face, surrounded by three men, it seemed the picture was of her old gennin team.

Sakura stared at the picture, Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi but her figure within the picture had become somewhat transparent. Glancing at the Hokage Sakura weighed her words carefully, but before she was able to say something a group of medics burst in through the hospital entrance. Sakura was about to jump into action when she remembered, she didn't work here in this time, and she had no authority to start demanding the clueless looking nurses on what to do, but when had that ever stopped her . . . much to Garra's amusement that one time in Suna. As more and more ninja piled in and the injuries seemed to be getting worse as each new shinobi came in, Sakura made a decision.

Jumping into the fray Sakura began barking out orders as she began to pump chakra into the worst patient, a man about 25 years old, who had a gaping hole in his abdomen as well as several deep gash's. The nurses and several medics paused, staring at her. "What the hell are you waiting for, do you want them to die?" she asked as she moved him on to a gurney. That was all it took for the nurses to be prompted into action. Sakura began to bark out orders and they were followed to the tee as she rushed the first one into surgery. With one last order to the nurses to keep the others alive till she got there, while making sure to arrange the men cases on the severity of their injuries she disappeared behind two white doors to work on her patient.

The Hokage watched on as the young woman took charge and the nurses and medics followed her instructions. Silently he thanked god for sending her to them. She was going to help turn the tides.

* * *

Sakura stumbled out of the ER, her legs feeling like jelly, she had to lean against the wall to prevent herself from falling to the ground. She was exhausted, her chakra was almost completely drained and she felt like a dead women walking. She didn't know how many hours she had spent in the ER, but she knew that it had been long and strenuous. There had been 12 patients in critical condition with 5 who had lesser injuries. Then there was the fact that there were only four medic's that were semi adequate at using healing chakra in the hospital, the more experienced one going home after some forty eight hour shifts. Out of all the people that had come in she only lost one. It had been one of the lesser wounded patients, one of his wounds had been inflicted with a poisoned weapon and oversight that had not been inspected.

"War is a horrible thing." Sakura turned towards the voice, to find the Hokage, "Most of our best medics are out on the field, those remaining few pull up to seventy two hours shifts but they have to rest at some point." Sakura nodded in understanding as she slumped to the floor. She knew what he was asking. She had worked hours upon hours at the hospital in her time, heading quite a few departments. After today she knew that she'd be needed. "You saved a lot of lives today."  
Leaning her head back against the wall, Sakura closed her eyes as she made a decision. "Put me on call. Tell them to send a runner to get me if they need me."

"Thank you."

Sakura's eyes opened as they took on a distant look. "I've seen war before Hokage-sama. I'm used to managing hospitals whether they are on a field or in a safe zone. I've saved lives and I've lost lives it's something you can't help as a medic. You just have to keep moving on, if you dwell on it you'll make mistakes and you can't afford those." Sakura stood up "I'm going to go home now and pass put for the next few days."

"Sakura," the Hokage called, stopping her in her tracks, forcing her to turn around. The man stepped aside to reveal her bags, "I'll have these delivered to your home but I thought you'd want this." Sakura's eyes honed in on the piece of paper in his hand. She smiled a small smile as she took it, making sure to tuck it in her vest before continuing on her way. "Go home and rest Sakura."

Sakura nodded finding the idea to be heavenly; she honestly didn't know how she was standing right now. Without another thought Sakura began walking towards the exit. Stumbling and using the wall to keep her steady, she finally made it out the door.

"I was wondering if you were ever going to come out." A soft masculine voice echoed in the rosette's ears. Sakura looked up to see Minato leaning against a nearby tree, a soft smile on his face "It was getting late so I went to the Hokage and he said you were at the hospital. But once I got here they said you were in surgery." Minato said. "How late is it?" Sakura questioned, starting to feel a little dizzy, as the corners of her eyes began to go hazy. She wouldn't be able to stand much longer.  
"It's 1am" The blonde said looking at Sakura with a bit of worry. Sakura's eyes were starting to glaze over. "Really..." She half asked half said as she became light then she began to fall.

The next thing she knew she was staring up at Minato's concerned face, feeling almost weightless. She hadn't even felt herself fall but at some point Sakura had lost the ability to stand and Minato had caught her, scooping her up into his arms he cradled her. "You worked yourself too hard." Minato said. He hadn't come out and chastised her but it was there, you just had to read between the lines, something in what felt like a near dead state Sakura was still able to do. Sakura slowly blinked at him, his face blurring around the edges, "Those people needed me." She said, Minato gave her a questioning look, he knew she had been healing but was it really necessary for her to over work herself this much?

"17 shinobi were rushed to the hospital while I was there... 12 critical... 5 with lesser injuries... I lost one... But If I hadn't been there at least half of them would have died." Sakura said slowly, her voice soft as she told the blonde what had happened. Minato just barely caught the hint of sadness cross her face when she said she had lost one of the men. After a few minutes of silence Minato started to walk toward the house they shared, "You should be more careful next time." he said softly, his tone wasn't condescending or mocking, it was filled with concern.

Sakura let her head rest on his chest, finding she had no strength the stop the oncoming sleep her body was forcing her into. "Thank you... "she whispered appreciating the heat his body was emitting.

"Don't think anything of it. Sleep now Sakura." And with those words, for once Sakura did as she was told and allowed herself to fall into a deep slumber. Allowing her mind to go to a world where she was back with her boys, where there was no war, back to a time when she had been truly happy. Yes sometimes a good long sleep was just what the doctor ordered.

Minato carried her home, and laid her on her bed, pulling her shoes off and pulling the covers over her body. As he shut off the lights and left the room Minato couldn't help but feel a pattern was being established.

* * *

**Sooo what do you think?**

**Let us know!**

**Myself and UNCPanda have been doing some late nights over this chapter so hope you guys liked it!**

**Okay since the story has been getting really good feedback it is now 10 reviews till the next update! :)**

**Until next time**

**MidnightShadow0110 & UNCPanda**


End file.
